Want to improve your resume but not sure where to start? Refreshing your resume should be about more than just adding your most recent role. Your resume is often the first impression that you give a business. As such, it should be strong, concise and representative of your best traits. The Flexi Guide to Helping Jobseekers Write a Winning Resume contains all the information you need to write an effective resume. So how do you do that exactly?

Keep it Concise and Simple

Did you know that a Recruiter spends approximately 6 seconds looking over your resume (if that) before making a decision, according to research by job search site The Ladders? Through eye-tracking, the areas they focus on are the names of your current and prior employer, start and end dates and educational sections. Keeping your resume concise and avoiding long and irrelevant paragraphs will help employers come to the decision that you want regarding your resume.

Things to Avoid

With a short period of time in which to engage a recruiter or prospective employer, it’s important that your resume is relevant and impactful. Quite often, the ‘Career Objective’ section can be poorly worded. Jane Heifetz of the Harvard Business Review recommends a short, punch statement tailored to each application in which to highlight your expertise relevant to the role. Also avoid any fluffy, cliché or confusing phrases.

Selling Yourself

Your resume should be about communicating the value you have contributed to each role. The best format for this is to list four to five key achievements that you have accomplished in each role. Examples could be increasing sales or reducing costs. It’s important to use quantifiable data or evidence to back up your achievements and specifically state which actions you took secured the outcome.

The Finishing Touches

Sharing your Resume with 4-5 people and asking for feedback is important to iron out any spelling or grammatical errors before you send it to prospective employers. According to a recent audit from spell checking program Grammarly, the average resume has around five spelling or grammar errors. The proofreading part of ensuring your Resume is 100% accurate is incredibly important and shouldn’t be under estimated.   UK editing service Wordvice recently analysed over 9,000 documents (ioncluding Resumes) and found the following error frequencies:

• Style: 3.8 errors/page
• Vocabulary Enhancement: 2.6 errors/page
• Grammar: 2.59 errors/page
• Contextual Spelling: 1.69 errors/page
• Punctuation: 1.1 errors/page
• Sentence Structure: 0.25 errors/page

Questions to Answer in your Resume

To ensure you have covered off all your bases in completing your Resume, ensure you have answered these questions and used the answers to sell yourself effectively to a prospective employer:

WORK EXPERIENCE

1. What were the key tasks and responsibilities in your role?
2. What did you achieve during your time at a previous company that added value?
3. Did you earn promotions or take on new responsibilities in your role?

SKILLS

1. What are your five strongest qualities that set you apart as a candidate?
2. Which personal traits have been the most helpful to your career?
3. How have you developed technical knowledge and specialised skills?

QUALIFICATIONS

1. Do you have any training that is relevant to the role?
2. What did you achieve as part of a course?
3. Have you received any relevant awards or accreditations?

For Example: “Led a new digital marketing campaign which increased brand awareness by 55 per cent and raised revenue by 27 per cent over three months”.

If you would like to speak to the experts regarding your resume or job search, speak to one of the Recruitment Consultants at Flexi Personnel.